Lessons learned from The Last Man on Earth
Michael Fraiman writes about the Jewish themes in The Last Man on Earth.
Sarcasm is the Jewish sword
Two American giants exited the literary world in May: Tom Wolfe and Philip Roth. Apart from their brilliance in mapping America’s social and cultural landscape, they could not have been more different in temperament and style. Roth’s writing was intensely personal, mordant and Jewishly obsessed; Wolfe’s was detached, exuberant and cosmopolitan. It is not by […]
Crohn’s sets the stage for an epic battle in new show
Dan Rosen is reliving one of the worst moments of his life onstage: a disastrous cold-water enema. It happened when he was 16 years old, five years after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. In the retelling, he is desperately clenching his butt cheeks, reaching out in Shakespearian fashion, his face stretched with tension, willing himself […]
Comedian’s act strikes chord with Russian Jews
When comedian Gary Guz posted the first YouTube video of himself pretending to be a Russian Jewish grandmother, he did not anticipate how much this would change the course of his life.
A Groucho Marx for the YouTube age
Ten years ago this week, Joseph Herscher, a scrawny New Zealander with frazzled hair, uploaded a video to YouTube called Creme That Egg! Ten years and three million views later, that video launched Herscher’s comedic career.
Comedian Danny Polishchuk finds himself at centre of controversy
Stand-up comic Danny Polishchuk, who is headlining the Toronto Jewish Comedy Festival’s Boxing Day show, Jews Going Out of Business, can’t decide if it’s a good or bad time to be a comic.
Joke fell flat, but Larry David has a right to tell it
The comedian’s controversial joke on a recent episode of Saturday Night Live was an enormous roll of the dice. Unsurprisingly, he crapped out.
Le Dictionnaire amoureux de l’Humour juif
L’écrivain d’origine hongroise Adam Biro vient de publier un Dictionnaire sur l’humour juif savoureux, érudit et fascinant.
YOUR DAILY SPIEL FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 21
Today’s spiel: Jerry Lewis dies departs, Barcelona’s chief rabbi walks back his initial comments regarding the Jewish community in the country being doomed, Jon Stewart says Trump is “a terrible person.”
Comedian Elon Gold fights anti-Semitism with Humour
“I love to find the funny in hate,” Gold said. “I talk about homophobia and racism. When you find the funny in hate, you get to expose the ignorance of bigotry.”
